Obama Warns Syria Over Weapons 'Game Changer'

Syria: Evidence Is No Smoking Gun

Updated: 2:39pm UK, Friday 26 April 2013

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Vital questions remain unanswered over the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Like the scale of casualties. Who fired the weapons? Who gave the orders?

To get that kind of information the Syrian government would need to allow in international inspectors and that isn't going to happen.

If chemical weapons have been deployed by government forces President Bashar al Assad won't cooperate in arranging a noose for his own neck.

If there is to be conclusive proof of the crossing of a "red line" Mr Assad would have to carry out an atrocity akin to the actions of Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988, where chemical weapons were used to kill at least 5,000.

It's estimated a further 7,000 were injured or suffered long-term illnesses. The nerve agents tabun, sarin and VX, as well as mustard gas, were believed to have been used at Halabja.

But Mr Assad is far too clever to carry out an attack like Halabja. He knows such an undeniable use of chemical weapons would leave the international community with no choice but to make good on its threats.

It would leave the Russians with no option but to finally and publicly turn their backs on him. For now having the Russians sitting on the diplomatic fence renders the United Nations Security Council impotent. Russia has the power of veto enabling it to block meaningful sanctions and actions against Syria.

The UN says it has a  fact-finding team on stand-by in Cyprus ready to go into Syria within 24 hours. They may well have a long wait.

The UN team has been given permission to investigate claims of chemical weapons use in Syria's second city of Aleppo but they say they will not go in unless they are given permission for a country-wide investigation. That's something the Syrians have refused.

The British Government is keeping up diplomatic pressure to try to get investigators and evidence-gatherers into Syria. But just like all other aspects of diplomacy in Syria right now there's a lot of "keeping up pressure" but little progress.

David Cameron knows only too well the consequences of rushing to conclusions without proof. Anyone remember the fruitless hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

Astonishingly, the US Republican Senator John McCain said "it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed".  Sorry Mr McCain but where is the evidence of a smoking gun?

US President Barack Obama is being much more cautious. With America now out of Iraq and heading towards the finishing line in Afghanistan he doesn't want to rush into another war in another Muslim country.

And keeping Americans safe isn't all about the Middle East. The despot who cried wolf in North Korea - otherwise known as Kim Yong Un - hasn't entirely gone away.

North Korea's new young leader has been threatening to launch a war against America. It seems like a cry for attention rather than a promise.

But just in case Mr Kim means business it wouldn't be ideal to have American troops deployed to north-east Asia and Syria just as quickly as they had got out of Iraq and Afghanistan - which leads us to the conclusion that we are no nearer military intervention in Syria than we were before this latest round of intelligence claims.

So whatever Mr McCain says this is not a game-changing moment. Expect more deaths, more refugees, more atrocities and more heart-rending stories of despair from Syria.

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9/11 Plane Part Found Between NYC Buildings

A part from one of the commercial planes that was flown into the Twin Towers on 9/11 has been found between two buildings, police say.

New York Police Department Spokesman Paul Browne said the piece of landing gear, discovered on Wednesday wedged between a mosque site and another lower Manhattan building, has a clearly legible Boeing identification number.

The twisted and rusted equipment features cables, levers and giant bolts. It measures 5ft high, 3ft wide and 1.5ft deep.

"The odds of this being wedged between there is amazing. It had to have fallen just the right way to make it into that space," Browne said.

The part was found wedged in this narrow crevice

He added that other wreckage has been found nearby in the years since the terrorist attack.

The part was found by surveyors who had been hired to inspect the site of a planned Islamic community centre at 51 Park Place, about three blocks from ground zero.

The surveyors spotted the debris as they looked down between the buildings from the roof, quickly called 911, and the scene was secured and police documented the findings with photographs, Mr Browne said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and police will work to determine whether the wreckage belongs to American Airlines Flight 11, which struck the North Tower, or to United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower. Both planes were Boeings.

A plane can be seen before it flies into one of the Twin Towers on 9/11

Police are awaiting a determination from a medical examiner on whether to sift the soil around the building to search for human remains.

The medical examiner's office is in the middle of a 10-week sifting operation as it attempts to identify additional human remains in debris unearthed at the World Trade Center site during construction of a new skyscraper.

If the landing gear's origin is authenticated, it would mean it sat undisturbed for nearly a dozen years.

Patricia Riley, the sister of 9/11 victim Lorraine Riley, called the discovery "very strange."

"Twelve years later we are still finding remnants of the attack on our country," she said.

The ruins of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attack

"For years to come we'll continue to find things that we didn't see before. Hopefully, they'll serve as a reminder that we have to stay vigilant."

More than 2,750 people were killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked the two commercial passenger planes and flew them into the upper floors of the Twin Towers, then the tallest buildings in the world.

Hijackers also took over two other planes that day, crashing one into the Pentagon in Washington DC.

The fourth plane went down in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

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Bangladesh: Factory Owners And Engineers Held

Police in Bangladesh have arrested two clothing factory owners based at the eight-storey building near the capital Dhaka that collapsed killing 324 people.

Two engineers - Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali - involved in approving the design of the structure have also been detained for questioning.

Junior home minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, the company chairman.

Police have filed a case against them for "death due to negligence", after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the owners forced the workers to return to work after cracks appeared in the building.

The wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana - the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building who has not been seen since the tragedy - has also been detained.

Protesters take to the streets of Dhaka

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had asked the factories to shut down on Wednesday morning, hours before the building came down.

"After we got the crack reports we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed," said association president Atiqul Islam.

The arrests came after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of clothing workers who took to the streets on the outskirts of Dhaka to protest over the deaths as clashes also erupted in the southeastern city of Chittagong.

There was no sign of the rescue operation being called off with authorities pledging to continue the search after 19 people were pulled out alive on Saturday - more than three days after the building came down.

With time running out to save workers still trapped in the collapsed building, rescuers have been digging through mangled metal and concrete to find more survivors.

The rescued described hearing a loud crack just before the eight-storey building collapsed, with each level pancaking on top of those below.

The building housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.

High street giant Primark confirmed one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.

A Primark spokesman said: "The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved."

Elsewhere in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of workers walked out of their factories in solidarity with their dead colleagues.

Some workers' leaders attacked Western firms, whom they accused of turning "a blind eye" while using Bangladeshis as "money-making machines".

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Boston Marathon Bombings 'Triggered By Remote'

The Boston Marathon explosions that killed three people and wounded more than 260 were triggered by a remote-controlled detonator.

The bombs were not very sophisticated and were set off within several streets away because the detonator was a "close-controlled" device, according to two US officials who spoke to AP news agency on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear what the detonation device was.

A criminal complaint outlining the charges against surviving 19-year-old bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev described him as holding a mobile phone minutes before the first explosion.

Bombing suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L) and Dzokhar Tsarnaev (R)

The two sources, one reportedly briefed by the FBI and the other close to the investigation, also told AP that Dzhokhar had told interrogators that he and his brother were angry about US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They also said a 9mm pistol, believed to have been used by suspects in a gun battle with police last Friday had been recovered. Its serial number had been scratched off.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis has said more than 250 shots were fired in the first shootout in Watertown during which explosives were thrown at police and 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev died.

His younger brother, who escaped, was captured some time later hiding in a boat in the same residential suburb of Boston after a gun battle with police.

He remains in hospital and is being questioned about the marathon attacks. He has been charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Thousands gathered to pay their respects to Sean Collier

It has also emerged the Russian government was in touch with the CIA with concerns about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Until now, only contact with the FBI had been acknowledged by US officials.

Details of the ongoing investigation into the bombings emerged as a memorial service was held for Sean Collier - a university police officer who authorities say was killed by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

Up to 10,000 Massachusetts Institute of Technology students, faculty and staff as well as law enforcement officials from across the US gathered at Briggs Field to pay solemn tribute to the campus officer.

Vice President Joe Biden, as well as members of Mr Collier's family, also attended the event which was not open to the public.

Mr Biden, who grew up in the same neighbourhood as the Collier family, said the tragedy had brought him to "tears" after relatives painted "a vivid picture" of their loved one.

The casket of the slain polcie officer is carried by colleagues

He told the congregation: "Of all the things I've read, not knowing Sean, what struck home the most to me was that a student was quoted as saying, 'he loved us and we loved him'. What a remarkable son, what a remarkable brother."

Mr Biden described the Tsarnaev brothers, the only suspects in the Boston attack, as "two twisted, perverted, cowardly, knock-off jihadis".

In an emotional and passionate speech, he added: "What makes me so proud to be an American is that we have not yielded to our fears.

"The irony is, we read about these events, we experience them, but the truth is, on every frontier, terrorism as a weapon is losing. It is not gaining adherents, and what galls them the most is America does remain that shining city on the hill."

Mr Collier had only been in the job for a year when he was fatally shot in his squad car at the beginning of the dramatic manhunt for the suspects, four days after the twin blasts at the Marathon.

The 26-year-old was well-respected by his colleagues and was popular with students, and often went on hikes with the MIT student outing club.

MIT police chief John DiFava said: "What made Sean good? There are many reasons. But I believe the most important is the fact that he was the same person in uniform that he was when he wasn't wearing the uniform.

"His care and compassion was genuine ... and because of his depth of character he was able to achieve a level of trust with people of all backgrounds that was truly remarkable. I am sure his love of life and that mischievous grin added to his ability to connect with students."

He added: "Sean, we love you and we'll never forget you."

Wednesday's gathering followed a private funeral mass for Mr Collier on Tuesday.

Parents Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva

Meanwhile, US diplomats have travelled to Russia's Dagestan region, a largely Muslim area on the Caspian Sea, to interview the parents of the bombing suspects.

Their father Anzor Tsarnaev and mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva have reportedly said they will be travelling to the US on Thursday to visit their surviving son and bring his dead elder brother's body back to Russia.

They have refuted the allegation that their sons carried out the last Monday's bombings and have said their sons were framed.

Some relatives have claimed Tamerlan fell under the influence of a mystery Muslim convert - a red-bearded man known to the family only as Misha - and was steered towards an extreme form of Islam.

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Made In Britain: China Boosts Iconic Brands

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Shanghai

As Britain contemplates the prospect of a triple-dip recession, a growing number of iconic 'Made in Britain' brands are focussing their attention on China.

In an interview with Sky News, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce said the Chinese market was key.

"The Chinese are in love with Rolls-Royce," Torsten Muller-Otvos said as he showed off the company's latest model, the Wraith, to the Asian market at the Shanghai Motor Show this week.

"It is definitely good for Britain because 90% of our cars produced in Britain are exported and 10% roughly stay in the home market.

"That is basically very good for business and for the economy in Britain."

The new Jaguar F-Type, revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show this week

Rolls-Royce is now owned by Germany's BMW but the brand itself is still iconically British. The company produced 3,575 vehicles in 2012 from its factory in Chichester, West Sussex.

It wouldn't reveal how many of those came to China but, along with the Middle East, China is a vital market.

"When you look at the long-term forecast for so-called ultra-high-net-worth individuals, this is forecast to grow 3-5% year by year," Mr Muller-Otvos said.

These ultra-high-net-worth individuals are people like Chen Anzhi, a businessman from Shanghai. He owns three Rolls-Royces and agreed to take Sky News for a spin in one.

Sky News is given a ride in Mr Chen's Rolls Royce

"British to me means very high quality of workmanship; attention to detail. I appreciate that," Mr Chen said at the wheel of his bright green convertible Roller.

"Look at my suit!" he said, taking both hands off the steering wheel of his vastly expensive car.

"I think I am wearing Dunhill today. Dunhill's also British I think?

"I bought three of these Rolls-Royces. Presently I have two: a white one, this green one and I had a burgundy one but I gave it away."

Mr Chen represents one of a growing number of people in China with an eye-watering amount of money and a love affair for luxury and all things British.

"I love British cars, British furniture, I love to go to London," he said.

"I enjoy the very luxury lifestyle, yes. Chinese and British - good friends!"

The Aston Martin stand at the Shanghai Auto Show

We pass Shanghai's flagship stores, including British ones like Burberry. The reflection of our more than ostentatious car is visible in the windows of the shiny shop windows.

"Fourteen years ago you rarely see BMW and Mercedes," Mr Chen said.

"Now you see Rolls-Royce and you think 'wow'! What happened here to the economy? It's booming."

Jaguar Land Rover is another 'Made in Britain' brand - albeit now Indian owned - which is increasingly popular in China.

The Chinese market is now the company's largest globally, allowing it to invest in new jobs in the UK and set up a new joint-venture project in China.

At this week's Auto Show in Shanghai, the new Jaguar F-Type and the new Range Rover Sport were both unveiled to the Asian market.

Range Rovers, often in garish colours with added body-kits, are a regular sight on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai.

Back in Mr Chen's bright green Rolls Royce, I ask him the awkward question. How much did it cost him?

"I knew that question was coming," he laughs!

"It's close to $1.8m dollars. The price is crazy, I know, but after you drive this car, the enjoyment and pleasure, you just forget about the price."

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Bangladesh: 'Factories Ignored Evacuation Order'

A building in Bangladesh was ordered to be evacuated a day before it collapsed but clothing factories there continued working and ignored police instructions, officers claim.

The order was made after deep cracks became visible - as the death toll from the tragedy rose to at least 175 and it emerged a Primark supplier was based at the premises.

After the cracks were reported on Tuesday, managers of a bank that also had an office in the building, evacuated their workers and suspended their operations.

But the garment factories continued working, ignoring the instructions of officers, said police spokesman Mostafizur Rahman.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting on Wednesday morning, just hours before the building fell.

"After we got the crack reports, we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed," said Atiqul Islam, the group's president.

Thousands gathered on the streets where the building collapsed

Survivors say they were made to carry on working in the eight-storey block despite apparent concerns about its safety.

The building, in Savar on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.

The high street giant Primark has confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.

Bosses at the retailer say they were "shocked and saddened" by the collapse.

In a statement released on the company's website, a Primark spokesman said: "The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved.

Hundreds of factory workers were trapped inside the building

"Primark has been engaged for several years with NGOs and other retailers to review the Bangladeshi industry's approach to factory standards. Primark will push for this review to also include building integrity.

"Meanwhile Primark's ethical trade team is at this moment working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from, and to provide support where possible."

Army Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said late on Thursday that many people were still trapped in the building.

The disaster came less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people and underscored the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladesh's garment workers.

Workers said they had hesitated to enter the building on Wednesday morning because it had developed such large cracks a day earlier that it even drew the attention of local news channels.

Just hours later the building came tumbling down.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the site, weeping and searching for family members.

Searchers worked through the night to get through the jumbled mess of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to those pinned inside the building.

"I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry. We can't leave them behind this way," said fire official Abul Khayer.

Abdur Rahim, who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that the cracks in the building were no cause for concern, so employees went inside.

"After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly," Mr Rahim said.

The next thing he remembers is regaining consciousness outside.

On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and that "the culprits would be punished."

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Chinese Hacking Suspects 'Back In Business'

By Alistair Bunkall and Mark Stone, Sky News

A group of Chinese hackers suspected of being behind a cyber-attack on the New York Times earlier this year may be restarting their campaign.

BAE Systems, the defence contractor, says it has unearthed evidence that indicates the group is active for the first time since February, when the hackers were accused of being linked to a Chinese military unit in Shanghai.

Although the connection has not been proven, the hacking group went immediately quiet on the day the allegation was made. Now analysts believe the hackers are ready to strike again.

David Garfield, managing director of cyber security at Detica, a BAE Systems subsidiary, told Sky News: "The activity we have detected indicates that the espionage group was lying low until the attention around their activities died down, before getting back to 'business-as-usual'.

"Detica researchers have obtained a copy of malware that has all the hallmarks of being crafted by this espionage group.

"This malware was created in the last week and contains a PDF which contains the agenda of an upcoming US defence conference which is consistent with the mode of operation of these particular attackers.

"The conference, taking place at the end of this month, fits with the style of event which is commonly used as a 'lure' for this group, and others of its kind."

Informal hacking groups operate differently to state-sponsored cyber units

For four months, towards the end of 2012 and into early 2013, hackers repeatedly infiltrated the New York Times, obtaining staff passwords among other things.

Security consultants found that some of the attacks were being routed through US universities to divert the blame away from the source, a method commonly associated with Chinese hackers.

The newspaper said the attacks were probably motivated by work reporters had been carrying out concerning senior figures in the Chinese government.

In February the American computer security company Mandiant published several years of research which it claimed pinpointed the hacking to one building in the Pudong district of Shanghai.

The building was reportedly the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Unit 61398.

Mandiant represents the cyber-security interests of several major multinational companies, all of whom believe they are the victims of Chinese hackers.

The HQ said by Mandiant to be the source of much hacking (Pic: City8.com)

On Monday, the Chinese army's chief of the general staff, General Fang Fenghui, was asked about cyber security at a rare news conference with the visiting US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey.

General Fang issued an alarming warning on the dangers of hacking.

"Cybersecurity, if it is uncontrolled, the effects can be, and I don't exaggerate, at times no less than a nuclear bomb," General Fang said.

General Fang also reiterated a longstanding Chinese government assertion that China is also a victim of cyber attacks and that it is "strongly against any kind of cyber attacks".

China is not the only country connected with cyber attacks - the US, Russia, Israel and Iran are all suspected of developing cyber weapons. Most Western countries are believed to be doing the same.

Both BAE Systems Detica and Mandiant have commercial interests in highlighting the dangers of cyber crime.

The Chinese government has not responded to the latest allegations.

:: The Syrian Electronic Army has made an uncorroborated claim that it hacked the Twitter feed of the Associated Press news organisation. On Tuesday, the AP feed falsely stated that an attack on the White House had left the US president injured.

:: Australian police have arrested the self-proclaimed leader of non-state global hacking group LulzSec, which its members have said was responsible for breaching the CIA's external website.

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Bangladesh: Dozens Dead After Building Fall

At least 82 people have died after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

Another 700 are reported to have been injured in the building's collapse which involved several garment factories, a senior emergency ward doctor at a nearby hospital revealed, while many remain still trapped inside the building.

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members.

Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, in charge of the recovery operation, said 600 people had been rescued but the death toll could rise.

Clothing factories are usually staffed 24 hours a day.

Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which fell into itself, leaving it about two storeys tall.

Hundreds of factory workers were trapped inside the building

The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire in a clothing factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nation's garment industry.

That fire at the Tazreen factory drew international attention to the conditions workers toil under in the $20bn-a-year (£13bn) textile industry in Bangladesh.

The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers - the industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation.

Tazreen did not have emergency exits and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.

Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.

The factory made clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney and other Western brands.

More follows ...

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Boston: Suspects' Parents Face Questioning

US diplomats have travelled to Russia's Dagestan region to interview the parents of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

A delegation from the American embassy in Moscow has made the journey to the North Caucasus area to interview the pair, Anzor and Zubeidat Tsarnaev.

An embassy official said the trip was in line with the co-operation between the FBI and Russian authorities over the investigation into the deadly bombings allegedly carried out by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Dzhokhar has been charged

The parents are currently living in Dagestan, a largely Muslim region on the Caspian Sea where the family briefly lived before leaving for the US over a decade ago.

It comes amid mounting questions in the US about whether authorities there missed crucial signals that should have raised suspicions about the brothers before the bombings.

Particular interest has surrounded a six-month trip Tamerlan made in 2012 to Dagestan and Chechnya.

Russian security sources in Dagestan told the AFP news agency he was seen four times with a figure suspected of links with the Islamist underground during his visit but there was never any reason to detain him.

Meanwhile, relatives claimed Tamerlan, 26, fell under the influence of a Muslim convert and was steered towards a strict strain of Islam in the years before the attacks.

After befriending the man, known to the Tsarnaev family only as Misha, Tamerlan gave up boxing and stopped studying music, the family said.

This image appears to show the brothers crouched by a Mercedes

He became vocal about his opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and read websites claiming that the CIA was behind the 9/11 terror attacks and Jews controlled the world.

"Somehow, he just took his brain," said Tamerlan's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who recalled conversations with Tamerlan's father about Misha's influence.

It was not immediately clear whether the FBI has spoken to Misha or was attempting to, but efforts by the media to identify and interview the mystery man have been unsuccessful.

Throughout his religious makeover, Tamerlan maintained a strong influence over his siblings, including 19-year-old Dzhokhar, who investigators say carried out the deadly attack by his older brother's side, killing three people.

The family's claims came as new photos were released that apparently show the police stand-off that killed Tamerlan on Friday.

Tamerlan's father Anzor was said to be worried about the mystery radical

The images seem to have been taken from inside a house overlooking the scene of the gunfight, and show the brothers crouching near a Mercedes SUV they had carjacked.   

One of the brothers appears to be holding a gun with both hands in front of his body.

Dzhokhar survived the shoot-out and was caught by police later in the day.

He was charged on Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Tamerlan (L) boxes at the 2009 Golden Gloves

Based on preliminary written interviews with Dzhokar in his hospital bed, US officials believe the brothers were motivated by their religious views.

Two US officials say the brothers had no tie to terrorist groups, but Tamerlan's relationship with Misha could be a clue in understanding the motives behind his religious transformation and, ultimately, the attack itself.

Elmirza Khozhugov, 26, the ex-husband of Tamerlan's sister, Ailina, said Tamerlan was idolised by his siblings.

"You could always hear his younger brother and sisters say, 'Tamerlan said this,' and 'Tamerlan said that.' Dzhokhar loved him. He would do whatever Tamerlan would say," he said.

Mr Khozhugov, who now lives in Almaty, Kazakhstan, said he was close to Tamerlan when he was married and they kept in touch for a while but drifted apart in recent years.

Tamerlan is seen here with little brother Dzhokhar and their sisters

"Of course I was shocked and surprised that he was Suspect No 1," Mr Khozhugov said, recalling the days after the bombing when the FBI identified Tamerlan as a suspect.

"But after a few hours of thinking about it, I thought it could be possible that he did it."

The Tsarnaev brothers, who were ethnic Chechens, were raised in a home that followed Sunni Islam, the religion's largest sect.

They were not regulars at the mosque and rarely discussed religion, Mr Khozhugov said.

Mr Tsarni made a public appeal to his nephew when he was on the run

Then, in 2008 or 2009, Tamerlan met Misha, who the family described as slightly older, heavyset and bald with a long reddish beard.

"Misha was important," Mr Khozhugov said. "Tamerlan was searching for something. He was searching for something out there."

Mr Khozhugov did not know where they had met but believed they attended a Boston-area mosque together.

Misha was an Armenian native and a convert to Islam and quickly began influencing his new friend, family members said.

Once, Mr Khozhugov said, Misha came to the family home outside Boston and sat in the kitchen, chatting with Tamerlan for hours.

"Misha was telling him what is Islam, what is good in Islam, what is bad in Islam," said Mr Khozhugov, who said he was present for the conversation.

"This is the best religion and that's it. Mohammed said this and Mohammed said that."

Dzhokhar remains in Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre

The conversation continued until Tamerlan's father, Anzor, came home from work around midnight.

"His father comes in and says, 'Why is Misha here so late and still in our house?' He asked it politely. Tamerlan was so much into the conversation he didn't listen."

Mr Khozhugov said Tamerlan's mother, Zubeidat, told him not to worry.

"'They're talking about religion and good things. Misha is teaching him to be good and nice," Mr Khozhugov recalled the mother saying.

As time went on, Anzor became so concerned about his son that he called his brother, worried about Misha's effects.

"I heard about nobody else but this convert. The seed for changing his views was planted right there in Cambridge," Mr Tsarni said.

Last week, Mr Tsarni made a public appeal for Dzhokhar to turn himself in when he was still at large following his brother's death.

Since the attacks, Anzor has insisted his sons are innocent and the attacks were orchestrated to frame them. Other members of the extended family have made similar claims.

"It's a set-up, a political order, a Hollywood show," Anzor said.

But two US officials have confirmed that Tamerlan, who was married with a young daughter, became an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda.

Lawyers for Katherine Tsarnaeva, Tamerlan's widow, say she is doing everything she can to assist authorities.

In a statement her legal team said Tsarnaeva, a Muslim convert, and her family were in shock when they learned of allegations against her husband and brother-in-law.

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Canada: 'Al Qaeda Train Terror Plot' Foiled

Canadian police have foiled an al Qaeda-backed "major terrorist plot" to attack a passenger train on a railway line between New York and Toronto.

Two people have been arrested and charged with conspiring to carry out the attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group, police revealed at a news conference in Toronto.

The suspects - Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35 - had been under surveillance since August 2012 after authorities were tipped off about one of the men.

They will attend a bail hearing in Toronto today.

The pair were allegedly planning to target and derail a Via Rail passenger train in the Toronto area, and are alleged to have received "direction and guidance" from al Qaeda "elements" in Iran.

Police said there was "no indication that these attacks were state-sponsored" and declined to say where the suspects were from.

They confirmed they were not Canadian citizens but had been in the country "a significant amount of time".

The suspects' plans were "not based on their ethnic origins but on an ideology," police said.

"This is the first known al Qaeda-planned attack that we've experienced in Canada," Superintendent Doug Best said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the claim that the men were backed by Tehran-supported al Qaeda was "ridiculous".

Canadian police hold a news conference to reveal details of the arrests

"This is the most hilarious thing I've heard in my 64 years," he said.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews warned later that the "arrests demonstrate that terrorism continues to be a real threat to Canada".

Canadian authorities, the FBI and US Homeland Security police and agents have been involved in a year-long cross-border operation that led to the arrests in Toronto and Montreal.

Assistant Commissioner James Maliza, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said: "Had this plot been carried out it would have resulted in innocent people being killed, or seriously injured."

His colleague Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan added: "We are alleging that these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack.

"They watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto area. It was definitely in the planning stage but not imminent."

Sky's US correspondent Amanda Walker said: "They are really hailing this as a successful operation, something that they have managed to prevent.

"It does seem they have treated this as a very serious and major threat which was certainly well on in the planning.

"But not far enough for the public or railway staff to be in any immediate danger.

"So obviously they had a difficult act here to actually balance the timing of when they made these arrests - getting enough intelligence, enough information, but not taking that up to the point when the public would have been in real danger."

The news comes one week after twin bombings at the Boston Marathon killed three people and wounded 180 - and as Canada's parliament debates a proposal to beef up anti-terror measures.

A US Justice Department official in Washington said there was no connection between the thwarted terrorist plot and last Monday's attacks in Boston.

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